Combined bootjack and boot hook



' Oct. 1946? c. G. HILTON 2 ,5

COMBINED BOOT JACK AND BOQT HOOK Filed Aug. l2, 1943 IN V EN TOR.

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Patented Oct. 1, 1946 UNlTEDL-gSTATES PATENT OFFICE 1 2,40s,64o g COMBINED BOOTJACK AND-BOOT 1100 v Charles G. Hilton, Amarillo, Tex. Application August 12', 1943, Serial No. 498,349

This invention relates to improvements in a combined boot jack and boot hook.

Bootiacks and boot hooks, as used heretofore, have required separate instruments for the respective purposes.

The object of this invention is to combine, the boot jack and boot hook, capable of separation for the respective purposes, and yet providing a sturdy, rigid and efiicient boot jack when the component parts are interlocked, as well as a pair of sturdy efilcient and easy-to-use boot hooks when the parts are detached one from the other. The device is light in weighheflicient, and simple in construction, making it highly practical for manufacture and use.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the invention used as a boot jack;

Fig. 2 is a similar view thereof in disconnected relation for use as a pair of boot hooks;

Fig. 3 isa similar view showing the use of one boot hook;

Fig. 4 is a cross section, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the invention used as a boot jack.

The combined device is constructed of a pair of complementary hook units each formed with a handle at one end and a hook at the other, which hook units are constructed for interconnected relation. When thus assembled, the device forms a boot jack one end of which rests on the floor while the other end is elevated and forms a yoke to engage the heel portion or spur .of a boot B. The separated hook units are used individually to engage the loops L of the boot B in pulling it onto the foot.

The complementary hook units are designated generally I and 2, and as shown in Figs. 1 to 5,

are formed preferably of heavy steelwire or metal rod bent to the required shapes. Each of the units 1 and'Z is formed with an elongated body portion 3, having an inturned hook 4 at one end thereof. The opposite end of each'unit is bent 3 of the units .1 and 2, to form a loop 8 therer around. The wire or rod is bent atright angles 4 Claims. (Cl. 223-115) 2 from the loop 8 to form supporting legs 5 having out-turned feet l0.

The hooks 4-4, when used as a boot jack,serve as a resting stand to hold the device in the correct position for use, as shown in Fig. 5. The loop 8 is coiled around the body 3, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, so as to reinforce and brace the stand to sustain the weight placed thereupon when used as a boot jack. The wire or rod of the body portion 3 is corrugated in a single plane so as to provide a resting place for the sole of one foot .to hold the boot jack in place while the boot is being drawn ofi the other foot, and also forms a fiat rest for the foot that must hold the jack after the boot has been taken from it, thereby preventing injury thereto.

A shown in Fig. 4, the legs 9 are tilted inwardly and downwardly from the body portions 3 to the out-turned feet l0 so that when weight is placed upon the top of the units I and 2 there will be a tendency for the units to spring outward at the top, causing the hook 6 and eye I to become more firmly engaged. It is preferable to have the U-shaped yoke 55 at a slight angle to embrace wedgingly boots of varying heel sizes. While it is desirable to have the points of the hooks 4 in contact relation, they may be spread apart slightly to cause the U-shaped yoke 5-5 to accommodate a boot with a smaller heel, as the boot jack will pivot about the'hook and eye 6-1.

When used as boot hooks, the members I and 2 are disconnected at the hook and eye B'I, and the hooks 4 are used to engage the loops L of the boot B on either side of the boot as shown in Fig. 3. The leg 9 together with the hook 6 or eye I constitute a handle for each member, which handles may be grasped in the hands to pull on the boot.

It will be evident, therefore, that the device may be used either as a boot jack (Fig. 5) or as a boot hook (Fig. 3), and is readily converted from one to the other. The inter-engaging hook and eye 6-! permit disassembly for separate use and for packing, and yet securely hold the members together when used as a boot jack.

The use of the hooks 4 to form the heel of the boot jack provides a rigid bearing therefor on the floor, and prevents scarring of the boots or foot injury.

I claim:

1. A combined boot jack and boot hook comprising a pair of elongated members arranged in side-by-side relation and having in-turned hooks forming a relatively flat keel rest at one end,

means for detachably connecting said members together, and yoke arms on the respective members at the other end thereof coacting to form a yoke to receive a boot heel, and a pair of legs projecting at an angle from said members and converging toward each other at the outer ends of said legs.

2. A combined boot jack and boot hook comprising a pair of elongated members arranged in side-by-side relation and having in-turned hooks forming a relatively flat heel rest at one end, means for detachably connecting said members together, and yoke arms on the respective members at the other end thereof coacting to form a yoke to receive a boot heel, each of said members being formed of wire and corrugated in a plane providing a top surface as wide as said yoke which receives said boot heel and forming a somewhat smooth surface.

3. In a combination boot jack and boot hook, members, means for inter-connecting said members, a U-shaped yoke at one end of said members, a pair of posts with inwardly converging sides for supporting said yoke members, a pair of intumed hooks at the opposite end of said members and forming a somewhat smooth,'flat end, and a stand intermediate the ends of said frame member and projecting inwardly and downwardly at an angle therefrom.

4. A combination boot jack and boot hook comprising a pair of frame members, said frame members having means forming a wide flat surface at the top thereof, hooks at one end of said frame members forming a somewhat smooth, fiat end to provide a support for an end of said boot jack and yoke arms at the opposite end which may be placed together to form a U-shaped member, the fiat surface on each frame member being approximately as wide as the hook thereon, a hook and eye for interlocking said frame members, and a stand intermediate the ends thereof and projecting therefrom at an angle thereto and forming a second support, said members being separable to form independent boot hooks.

CHARLES Gr. HILTON. 

